A fresh, fun and beautiful relationship doesn’t just happen; it has to be worked at. Just like your body will only stay in shape if you eat the right foods and exercise, a relationship will only remain healthy if you do the right things.

If you expect to be able to come home from work, make dinner and watch Netflix in silence with your partner each and every day, the routine will erode your relationship. Even if you cuddle.

With more divorces occurring now, than ever before, it is high time that couples learned how to weather the ups and downs. There will invariably be storms in any relationship, and there will always be moments of stagnation and boredom. To keep things fresh, fun and always beautiful, let’s take a look 20 things you can do.

Talk To Each Other Openly

The moment the two of you stop communicating openly is the moment your relationship starts to go on a slide. If you feel as though you can’t speak to one another about the important things out of a fear that an argument will erupt, it’s a sure sign that you aren’t dealing with things in the right way.

Happy couples embrace conflict; they want to hear what the other person has to say, and they will argue their points constructively.

But it is also the little things you need to remember to talk about. All too often, conversations are disrupted by our phones and laptops. Remember to switch your electronic devices off now and then and talk to your partner about how you’re feeling. Ask them how their day was.

Take A Vacation Together

One of the reasons a lot of relationships hit the rocks is because couples just don’t go on vacation enough. One of you is always busy with work, and your schedules just conflict. In fact, the only time you get to have any kind of break together is at Christmas when the in-laws pop round for a game of Scrabble.

You need to take vacations together more often to keep things fresh and FUN. You get to relax together, explore together, go on adventures together, get lost together, and even meet new friends together.

Laugh Together!

Laughter really is the best medicine. It makes everything seem SO much better.

If your relationship is getting a little bland, you probably need to take things a little bit easier and embrace laughter. Stop being so serious and do something that you know will get you both giggling. Watch a comedy together, watch some funny YouTube videos together; play pranks on each other, go trick or treating together, tell each other jokes, or play tag in the park while old people watch you and wonder what is going on. Unleash the child inside you and lighten up!

Make Love In Different Places

It’s really important that couples have some fun beneath the sheets, but in long-term relationships it is often the lovemaking part that gets marginalised. Everything becomes so routine that, far from making love 4 times a week anymore, you’re lucky if you get together once a month.

To freshen things up, why not try being a bit riskier and making love in different places? Explore each other, but also explore different locations. You could try the kitchen, the shower, the spare bedroom, the hallway…and you could even try it in someone else’s house. The risk will increase the fun.

Switch Up The Roles

So, you’re looking to inject a bit of fun into your relationship; in that case, why not switch roles?

If you cook, let your partner cook for once. If he drives, you should drive instead. If it’s always up to you to choose the movies, let him choose the movies. If he always goes to the game, YOU should go to the game and see what it’s all about.

Make Compromises

A relationship could never be beautiful if there are no compromises. If you’re in a relationship that thrives on the motto “My Way Or The Highway”, it could turn out to be one pretty ugly relationship.

Happy couples make compromises. They make sacrifices. The guy might not want to miss his 70th consecutive Lakers game this weekend, but if his partner is pleading with him to go and see her mother on her birthday with her, he will do it because he cares and knows that the key to a happy relationship is compromise. It can’t be “me me me” all the time. There has to be some give.

Surprise Each Other

What kills relationships is the humdrum of it all. The routine. When you know what to expect, day in and day out, you grow so accustomed to it all that you become numb to it. You become bored.

That’s why you should surprise each other now and then. You should return from work one evening with a surprise for your partner that you know will brighten up their day. And they should do the same for you.

Surprises are not only awesome for what they are, but they also remind you that you’re in a loving relationship with someone who cares.

Ditch The Routine

You always have pasta on a Monday, you make love on a Sunday, and have move night on a Saturday.

Isn’t it time you broke the familiar routine and mixed things up a little?

Their Family Is Your Family

If you want your relationship to be beautiful, it’s imperative that you get along with your partner’s family, and that they also get on with yours. Even if you are a little bit unsure about them at first, you should make an effort to get to know them and like them. Find something to talk to them about, buy them a gift, ingratiate yourself with them. Your partner will appreciate the effort, and it will make your relationship a lot stronger.

Say “I Love You” Often

If you say “I love you” all day, every day, it will begin to lose its meaning.

But if you say “I love you” once in a blue moon, the other person will begin to doubt your feelings.

So you need to strike the right balance. More “I love you’s” are better than less, and few of us (if any) get sick of hearing these three words. They just don’t get old. Try to say it at least once a day to your partner, and think of ways to say it creatively. Leave a love note in the morning before work, or write it on the bathroom mirror.

Be There When They’re Sick

Nobody likes being sick. When we’re sick, we feel incredibly vulnerable and we rely on the help of others. Your partner relies on YOU when they’re sick, which means that you simply have to be there for them. This means cancelling plans, heading out in the rain to pick up medication and cooking dinner.

You shouldn’t complain. A relationship is only beautiful if you’re prepared to put the effort in, when times get tough.

Share Most Of Your Time With Your Partner

We’re not saying that you should share all of your time with your partner, and indeed sacrificing every single football game for their spouse is anathema for hardcore football fans; but what we are saying is that most of your time should absolutely be dedicated to your partner.

If you and your partner are only spend bits and pieces of your time together, your relationship as a whole will invariably suffer. Happy couples are couples that spend time together. They don’t have dinner together each night and consider it to be the bedrock of a lasting relationship; they go for walks together, cook meals together, go on vacations together, and share in one another’s interests and hobbies.

Try New Things Together

There is no better way to keep a relationship fresh than by trying something new together. Not by yourself, but with your partner.

Let’s face it, relationships can stagnate; they can start to succumb to routine. It’s natural; after all, both of you have busy lives and as a consequence, you find it hard to find something new to do.

But it is fundamentally important that you both do find something new to do. This could be anything, from taking up night classes to supporting a new sports team. More than anything, new things are FUN.

Talk About Your Dreams and Ideas

Dreams are fun; they give us hope for the future, and we would be nothing without hope.

But rather than keeping your dreams to yourself, you should share them with your partner. Shared dreams and ideas can reignite a relationship, infusing it with imagination and aspiration.

The problem with a lot of relationships is that dreams just aren’t discussed; we keep things to ourselves, expecting that we’d never be able to realise the dreams anyway. By sharing them, you’re giving you and your relationship something to work towards.

Stay On The Same Page

A relationship can only be beautiful if you’re both moving in the same direction. If one of you is pulling one way, and the other is pulling another way, you’re going to be out of sync. This can lead to conflict and disaster.

Staying on the same page requires honesty, openness and communication. There will be fights, and there will be disagreements. But staying in sync is crucial to a strong relationship, and you can only do this by talking about your plans with your partner.

You Need To Be Willing To Forgive

We all make mistakes. Your partner has made mistakes in the past, and so have you. But if neither of you is willing to forgive the other person and move on, your relationship is going to be in trouble.

Happy couples know the value of forgiveness, and they are willing to accept apologies and move on for the good of the relationship. They can see the bigger picture, and they can see how grudges will only splinter the relationship over the longer term.

It’s time to put down your pride and forgive your partner. This will restore harmony and trust.

You Should Be Ready To Serve Your Partner

A fractured relationship is one where, if you ask your boyfriend to pop to the shops for the ingredients for dinner, he’ll complain that he’s in the middle of something on his Xbox and order a takeaway instead.

In strong, happy relationships, couples are always willing to go the extra mile for their partner. If this means pausing a movie to nip to the groceries, so be it. If it means cooking dinner tonight because your partner is stuck in a traffic jam, so be it. And if it means missing the Penguins because your mother-in-law is stopping by, so be it!

Date Nights Are A Must

As mentioned earlier, couples are busier than ever before in 2015. We spend more of our times with our work colleagues than we do with our partner, and this really sucks.

For this reason, it’s so important that you schedule a date night at least once every 2 weeks. Date nights help a relationship to avoid any niggling cracks by bringing you closer together. You can go for a romantic meal, take in a comedy night, or go for an evening drive.

Lose Your Bad Habits

Whenever we get together with someone, they have a few habits that we dislike but overlook. But as time wears on and we get into a serious relationship with them, we’d really prefer it if they ditched these bad habits.

Happy couples discuss these habits and are willing to lose them for the sake of the relationship. These habits might include eating meat, talking loudly in public, smoking or drinking too much alcohol. Whatever they are, you should be prepared to make changes for your partner.

Carry Out Small Acts Of Kindness

It’s your partner’s day off work but you have to be in the office for 9am. You can either grump about this and make your partner feel guilty, or you can do the right thing and make them breakfast in bed to show them how much you care about them, and that they deserve their time off work.

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